Cyberflanerie: Wingham Rowan, Art Made by Sheep, Geotica, Sweethoots

Wingham Rowan's TED talk on a new kind of job market-- fascinating.

(Speaking of which, because I'm such a fan of Task Rabbit, I thought I'd try www.fancyhands.com But when I had trouble with the sign up only permitted, apparently, via Google or Facebook (ick), I sent a message via their website and three days later they still have not gotten back to me. So I doubt I'll become a customer. Totally heart the concept, though.)

Gene Logsdon "The Contrary Farmer" on Art Made by Sheep
I'd heard of elephant art...

Oooh, another fabulous font... Geotica

Get out your tinfoil hat and watch the whole kit-n-caboodle: Resonance: Beings of Frequency

Sweethoots on etsy.com

And speaking of hats, I doubt anyone anywhere offers more peculiarly charming chapeaux than Sweethoots. (My fave? It's a toss up between the Noble Gnome and the Pot of Gold Rainbow. Well, the Little Lamb is also pretty good. Ditto Yoda.)

OK, as soon as I'm done procrastinating I'll finish up the latest Marfa Mondays podcast which is my talk about literary travel writing in the digital age and a reading of my essay from Cenizo Journal, "A Visit to Swan House" -- both my talk for PEN San Miguel, recorded live at the Angela Peralta Theater in San Miguel de Allende.

P.S. Thanks, Pat Dubrava, for adding Madam Mayo to your delightful blog's blog roll.

Cyberflanerie: Chicken Edtion

Because I am appalled at what I've learned about the way most commercial eggs are produced (most recently the NYT piece on chickens being dosed with Prozac and caffeine), I've developed an intense interest in keeping chickens, not that I am going to keep chickens. Of course, one can go to the store and pay a little extra for "organic" and/or "free range" eggs, but more than those little labels, what I believe would add the most most value to an egg is, simply, more information and even stories. How about a webcam into the hen house, knowing the names and histories of the individual chickens, videos with the owner, a report on what they ate this week, etc, etc.? I'd love it-- I'd sign up tomorrow, happy to pay the premium-- if someone in my neck of the woods would start a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with farm eggs raised on a small scale with this kind of added information, and a good, frequently updated, customer service-oriented website.

As a writer (of fiction and travel memoir) I've been blogging, and making videos and podcasts for sometime now, and so I know, first hand, that it's not that expensive to do, nor is it rocket science.

Just surfin', I was delighted to come across Terry Golson, chicken keeper (um, is that the word?) who has a webpage.. full of webcams!

Pictures and information about the individual chickens!
Videos!
>How to bathe a chicken
A blog!
Books!
FAQs
>Including an excellent and free Introduction to Chicken Keeping
Cluck cluck cluck!

And here is an interview with Terry Golson on the Soil Sparks blog.

P.S. See also the very informative Mother Earth News "Chicken and Egg Page."

And Gene Logsdon, irreverently wise as ever, now has a new take on keeping chickens. OK, OK, I'm thinking about it. I don't like the coq au vin part.

And artist Kathryn Dunn of Apifera Farm, on her very photogenic chickens, blog starlets all.